SFA has set 'dangerous precedent' by only fining Bougherra, says Lennon

The Scottish Football Association has set "a really dangerous precedent" in the way they have dealt with Madjid Bougherra, Neil Lennon argued yesterday.

The Celtic manager contrasted the Rangers player's fine for grabbing referee Calum Murray with his own three-match ban for a similar misdemeanour during his playing days, and argued that the way in which the SFA works must be subject to a thorough review.

Bougherra, who was sent off for making the contact with Murray during an Old Firm game last month, was fined 2,500 this week by the SFA disciplinary committee. The Algerian's team-mate El-Hadji Diouf, who was red-carded at the end of the match, was fined double that amount, while Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist was cleared of wrongdoing after his touchline dispute with Lennon.

Both the players will serve automatic one-match bans in next season's Scottish Cup as a result of their dismissals, but the committee's action means that Lennon was the only individual involved in that game who was punished with a discretionary ban. He did not appeal, unlike the Rangers players, and accepted a four-match ban.

While accepting that no two cases were identical, Lennon said he found it difficult to reconcile the treatment of Bougherra with the way he was treated following an Old Firm game six years ago, when he made contact with referee Stuart Dougal and had an angry exchange with assistant referee James Bee - actions for which he was given a three-match ban.

"I think it's the interpretation of it. You have to take each case on its own merits," said Lennon, who takes his team to Hampden Park tomorrow for a Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen. "The furore after mine in 2005 was widespread and quite condemning. There's quite a lot of condemnation over this one - but the results were different. I find that hard to take.

"I don't regret not appealing, because it would have been futile in my case. I certainly do think it sets a really dangerous precedent. I think it does, yes."

Lennon's sense of grievance was exacerbated by the difference between what actually happened in the disciplinary hearing and SFA chief executive Stewart Regan's declaration after the game that a hard line would be taken. "If you look at what Stewart Regan said after the game, then it totally undermined what he said, the results of the disciplinary committee," the Celtic manager continued.

"I still find it interesting that I was the only one to suffer a ban out of the four people who were up for disciplinary reasons. I find it difficult to understand, but there is supposed to be a statement out in the next couple of days and I can comment more then."

The Bougherra ruling has left Lennon all the more convinced that the SFA must undergo sweeping reforms. "For this season, it's probably too late, but there's got to be a complete review of the workings of the association.

"The game has got to evolve, got to move with the times. I don't think it has done, in this aspect, for quite a while.

"I'm not confident that it will happen, but a lot of people in football have been asking for it. If you look at a lot of the cases this season, the results show there have to be changes.

"I don't work for the SFA. It's up to them if they want to make the changes needed. They must do what's right for their association and their committees."

This week's announcement of the SPL post-split fixtures also drew comment from Lennon, who argued that the schedule had put his team at a disadvantage compared to rivals Rangers. "It's a bit of a concern, that we're playing catch-up - or could be playing catch-up. One of the reasons was television, but television is showing both games, Saturday and Sunday, so I don't see any reason why we couldn't play first in at least one of the rounds of fixtures.

"We've just got to get on with it. If we win all our games, we win the league. If we win six and draw one, we win the league.

"If you are playing catch-up, it always puts that wee bit of extra pressure on you, although I don't think the players are feeling it right now. All of the pressure is from outside, so we try to keep them away from that."

Apart from such political concerns, Lennon is in a contented frame of mind as he approaches the business end of the season, as he has almost a full squad to choose from for tomorrow's game and for the title run-in which follows. "The problem I have is keeping everyone happy, because everyone is fit or getting fit," he said. "I've got problems that other managers would envy."